The Little Irish Pub
by TechnoGryffin
Summary: Sloan kissed Don. That's just the first step. Find out what comes next. Part I of The Adventures of Money Honey and Bubba series.


Written with the incomparable e-anomaly . tumblr . com!

This is the first story in our new Don and Sloan series: The Adventures of Money Honey and Bubba. All the stories will take place in the same universe. Enjoy! It will be about 90% canon and about 10% AU.

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><p>Sloan sat on her couch and after a few minutes of hesitation picked up her cellphone and rang Don. "Hey. It's Sloan."<p>

"Hey Sloan." Don was sitting at his kitchen table trying to look over a dozen take out menus. "What's up? I figured after so many hours on air covering the election you'd be sleeping already."

She stood up, beginning to pace. "Nah, can't sleep. I was thinking- Maybe, if you wanted-" The words came out in one big breath and she had to drop the phone for a moment and shake her head. Calm the fuck down, Sabbith. Jesus. "Are you hungry? Maybe we could get something to eat. Have a few drinks." She rolled her eyes at herself. For fuck's sake.

Don perked up at the offer. He had been in the studio with her all day and most of the night. But the idea of getting some food with Sloan made him feel warm inside. "How about this." Don said, creating a plan. "There is a little Irish pub about 5 blocks from your place. Think Cheers but better food. How about we go there?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, that's great... Want to come to my place first or meet me there?" Was this a date-date? Sloan had no frame of reference with Don.

"I can pick you up. If this is going to be our first date I want to try to be a gentleman about it." Don could tell in her voice there were questions. She needed answers about what this was, he figured that out all on his own.

As quietly as she could, she held the phone aloft and did a tiny dance. First date. He said first date. "Alright, great. So I'll get changed now. I'll text you the door code. I'm 52B." She wanted to change into something slinky, without looking like she was trying too hard. Dark jeans, boots and that dark red sweater- yeah.

"I will be there in about half an hour. Traffic was a little backed up." Don was already on his way to the door to grab his jacket. He was really excited that they would finally do this, finally have that date they had been avoiding for years.

Her smile was so wide, it hurt her cheeks. "Okay... I'll see you soon." She hung up the call and raced into the bedroom, directly into her closet to grab the clothes and then vault into the bathroom to take a hot shower and scrub her skin until she was glowing. Touchable, soft and smelling good.

Don stuffed his hands into his leather jacket as he took the elevator up to Sloan's floor. He could tell the building was newer and more expensive than he would have been able to afford. But Sloan has tastes more expensive than his. Stepping off the elevator he headed to her door. Popping a breath mint in her tried to keep himself calm. This was more nerve racking than picking up his prom date. Lifting his hand he knocked.

On the other side of the door, Sloan was pinching her cheeks to pink them up and smack her lips to distribute the gloss. Taking a breath, she opened it slowly.

"Don." She smiled, truly happy to see him. "You look nice." Her fingers stroked his leather jacket briefly. "Come on in. I'm just getting my jacket and purse and then we'll go. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect." Don stepped into the apartment. High ceilings, lots of white and blacks and strong pieces. "You have much better taste than I do." He smiled, his hands back in his pockets. "I really need to redo my place. I haven't changed anything since before Maggie moved in and then out again."

She slipped into her jacket and gestured to the apartment. "I love to decorate. I could help you, if you wanted..." Sloan blushed, staring at his mouth.

Don saw where Sloan's eyes were so he licked his lips. "Maybe this weekend we could go to a furniture store and look around?" Don suggested. "Maybe grab breakfast first?" Planning a second date before the first one started was a new record for him.

Oh dear... he saw her. She ran a hand through her hair, her purse in hand. Her high-heeled boots gave her just enough height but still he was taller than her. "I'd like that, yeah." Sloan squinted her eyes and bit her lip. "Second date?"

"Second date. Unless we have a date between tonight and Saturday morning." Don held the door for her, stepping back to let her lock up. "It could happen you know. Lunch tomorrow, dinner the night after, maybe dinner the night after that. And then suddenly it's date 5."

Sloan bumped him with her hip accidentally on purpose as she locked up and waited for them to fall into step with one another to get into the elevator. "This is true. I'd be open to that, you know." Another blush. "Maybe you could watch the game with me at my place tomorrow night. After lunch."

"I'd like that." Don said, moving his arm around her. "We can eat lunch at 5 after your show is done and before my show is locked in." He liked being this close to her, his arm around her waist. "And then 11:30 or so we'll watch the game. Just DVR it and I won't look the Celtics score up during the show."

"I'd like that too." Sloan turned into him slightly, her hand moving to his shoulder as they stepped onto the elevator. "And as long as you give me a backrub between breaks, it's a deal. I'll even spare you my cooking and order a pizza."

"I heard you make really good sandwiches." Don hit the button for them.

"I make legendary sandwiches." Sloan grinned.

He was quite for a moment as they moved downward floor by floor. "Are you going to make me ask to be your boyfriend or an we just imply that and save the stress of us worrying about where this is going?"

Sloan was silent for a few moments as well, pondering his questions. "That depends on you, actually. What do you want? Do you want a girlfriend or something else?"

"What I want is you." Don was simple when it came to that. The reason, he figured at least, that he and Maggie didn't work out was because he didn't want to commit to her when deep down he knew someone like Sloan was out there.

"I want dinners and lunches, arguments over who is better at scrabble. I want cuddling and fucking and making out when we should be working. I want us to work together and work apart but in each other's office so we can just be around each other. I was weekends in bed together where we read the paper and nights watching games that are hours old. I want it all."

Sloan stared at him, at his mouth, and pictured his laugh, his smile; how kissing him would taste. Her mouth dry, she swallowed. "That's a pretty detailed want list, Keefer. I can tell you right now that I will crush you at Scrabble. And whenever you want to do anything in that third sentence, you just let me know." Cuddling, fucking, making out sounded fabulous.

"Was the third sentence the cuddling one or the working together one?" Don asked, his mouth a little dry. When she kissed him in the middle of the control room that night he felt like he was on top of the world. But somehow this moment might be a topper to it already.

Her head nodded as he spoke the word cuddling. Her hands on his shoulders. "Considering we've never kissed alone. Or made out. Or cuddled. Or fucked."

Don's hands found Sloan's hip, palming each other. "I wouldn't mind doing them all. You know in that order or another one of your choosing." Don was always the guy that scored on the first date and then worried about what that meant after. But with Sloan the idea of sex didn't feel like scoring.

She licked her lips and grinned. "Yeah? Good." Sloan moved closer still, pressed lightly against him, her hands moving up into his hair and moaning softly before she backed up letting out a breath. "This elevator needs to hurry up before I hit the stop button and get you out of those clothes."

Don's eyebrows shot up. He wasn't sure what he would say to that but he tried to figure something out. He was not a man who was ever at a loss for words. "I . . . am not sure what to say to that." He admitted as the bell dinged and the doors opened.

Sloan chuckled. "I do love to catch you off guard. You get this very innocent deer-in-headlights look."

Outside, the night air was beyond crisp. It was cold. Hands stuffed into her jacket pockets. "Which part throws you- the idea that I'd make out in an elevator, or that I'd make out with *you* in an elevator?"

Don lopped his arm with hers as they walked. "The part of you making out with me in an elevator is pretty surprising. Though it would be less so with the idea that you kissed me in the control room." Don moved with her down the side walk. It was nearly 2:30 am but it felt like it was barely 10.

She turned into him as a gust of wind blew down the street. "First kisses have to be big. I think that counts as pretty big. If it makes you feel better, I'll make out with you on my couch." The streets were pretty deserted and she felt as though she were in college again.

"I wouldn't mind making out with you just about anywhere." Don opened the door to the pub.

It was pretty empty. It was brighter inside than some pubs were. More diner than true bar. Don took a seat at his usual table and reached over to take Sloan's hand. "They have the best burgers I've ever tasted. They use a beer and cheese sauce on them."

Her eyes got wider. "Beer and cheese sauce? That's an actual topping?" Sloan looked around, eager to try this. "I'm sold." The feeling of his hand in hers, their fingers rubbing over one another felt strangely natural and right. "This is nice, Don. I like-" She gestured between the two of them, not wanting to scare him off by being too flowery with her language describing how great it felt to be with him.

"Being your boyfriend is something that I really wanted for a long time." Don admitted. "With Maggie it was always about trying to be a good guy, trying to play it like I was in a movie or a play. With you, our friendship at least, it was always natural. It was always just there and fit. I like the idea of the two of us fitting together more parts of our lives."

"I was... envious of her when I finally got to know you." Jealous, completely torn. But she couldn't say that. "That she got to make you laugh and sit and watch Sports Center." Short fingernails drummed the table top briefly. "I wanted that for a long time too."

"She hates sports." Don shook his head. "And you love them. More than most women I know."

"How can you not?" Sloan was passionate about many things; sports was one. There were figures and guidelines and predictions about those innings with so many points- she was in heaven.

When the waitress came over Don ordered for them. Sloan had after all told him what she wanted. He winced when she walked away. "Don't kick me in the balls for that. I was a reflex."

She popped a salty roasted peanut in her mouth and bit down, the crunching noise satisfying and loud. "For that?" Another peanut before she held one out for him. "It's almost 3am. I'm not going to jump down your throat for that."

Don took the peanut, licking the salt off his fingers. "I know that you wouldn't know it for how I was with Maggie but I can be downright sweet when I want to be. I can be old fashioned too." He thought of his father who always ordered for his mother, who held doors open and who would always offer her his jacket. He wanted that or something like it.

Sloan watched him as though seeing him in a new light. "I like old fashioned. Sweet is good. On you? It's very good." She nudged him with her foot. "What happened with you and Maggie-" She grew quiet and held out her hands. "Sometimes people can't make it fit. You shouldn't have to."

"Maggie was the girl that I thought the guy I should be should be with." Don thought about how a one night stand grew into what he and Maggie were. "She was midwestern and wholesome. She would have quit her job if we had kids. She was easy to make do what I wanted." Don shrugged.

"I was going to marry the guy that looked perfect on the outside, who I thought treated me great. In all actuality, the opposite." Sloan reflexively rubbed at her ring finger; now and again, she could still feel the weight of the ring, just as heavy as the night she caught him. In their bed.

Don lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the place another man's ring lived for far too long. "How about you think of being with a guy who drinks too much on weekends and works too much all of the thing and has a bit of a temper and who can be a jackass sometimes but would step in front of a bullet if it meant saving you or who would always have your back?" He knew he would never be "that perfect guy" but maybe he could be good enough for her.

Sloan caressed his cheek and blushed. "I think that the perfect guy was in New York this whole time." She nodded to him. "You might think I'm kidding, but I'm not. Look at where we are; 3am in a tiny pub on our first date. Because I wanted to see you. Badly."

Don let himself smile, a real smile and not a fake one to try to fit the moment. "I would have gone anywhere you asked." He whispered. "I would have gotten dressed up in a top hat and tails if it meant I got to see you and be the guy you spent the night with."

She chuckled and found herself wanting to see that. Pausing for a moment, Sloan nodded to the waitress coming with their food. "I'm starving. I can already see my burger from here." To keep her mind of how much she wanted to kiss him again, she would force herself to eat and pay attention to her food; her libido could wait. For a while.

Don cut his burger in hail, lifting up one of the buns and putting the sauce that came with their fries on it.

"You can tell a lot about a man by the way he eats his food." Sloan moaned as she took a bite. Her eyes fluttered shut. Dear God that was good.

"How much of a dork would you think I am if I asked you to play 20 questions?" He knew it sounded like a god awful thing for them to do but he was in the mood to know more about her. He wanted her to know more about him too. And he thought it sounded like something she's be into.

"Right now, you could ask me anything point blank. 20 Questions? Bring it." Sloan suckled cheese sauce from her finger and took a swig of her beer.

Don rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles. Anything to get her to smile at her again. "Alright. Let's start with an easy one." He wanted to try to get on her good side while at the same time finding out the answer to a question he really wanted answers. "Who is your favorite EP to work under?"

Sloan stole a fry from his plate smothered in sauce. "Oh that *is* easy." Winking at him. "Mac, of course." A booted foot nudged his leg. "But you're not too bad."

Don narrowed his eyes, taking an onion ring off of her plate. "Your turn Sabbith." He loved teasing her. She got this cute little smile on her face that made him smile just seeing it.

Sloan licked her finger and rubbed her hands together for a moment. "Hmmm. Okay, okay. What made you want to buy my book?" She wanted to get in his head and start by poking at his weakness- which for the moment was her.

"Because I knew if no one bid on it you would feel like you didn't do enough. So I placed one bid. And then I felt like it was too low but I couldn't just bid myself up $300 or $400 in one bid. So I had to keep going back until it was the level that I wanted it." Don explained, taking another onion ring. "And I haven't read it. Not more than the first chapter."

The fact that he hadn't read it made her laugh, nearly choking on her drink. "I should kiss you just for trying." She cleared her throat. "Your turn."

Don thought for a moment about what he wanted to know and how to ask it in a way that would keep the light tone. "Alright." He smirked, taking a sip of his beer. "How many sex toys do you have?"

"Oh here we go..." Sloan shifted in her seat and licked her lips. "Alright, Keefer. I have four." She clicked her tongue. "How many do you have?"

"Four?" Don's eyes popped a little. He started thinking about what she might have and what they looked like and how often she used them. He had to shake his head to stop that line of thought. "I have one. Guys don't really need any. But I got a gag gift and I tried it as a joke and I decided to keep it." His cheeks flushed a bit.

She pursed her lips, leaning forward. "A gag gift? Really..." There were many things that it could be and Sloan was picturing all of them.

"If you could have sex with anyone famous, who would it be?" Don asked.

"Sex with anyone famous?" She grinned. "Tom Brokaw. I do love a good speaking voice."

Don's eyebrow shoots up. "I will have to work on that then." He took a sip of his beer. "Your turn Sabbith. Better make it a good one."

"I could go with favorite sexual position but that's a given- you are an old-fashioned guy." Sloan leaned back in her seat, gesturing to him with a round movement of her hand. "You like to see the woman's face. So I'll go with something a little off the cuff-

What is the first sexual position you think of when you think of sex with me?"

Don sat back as he thought about the question. "Honestly?" Don asked, getting a nod from Sloan. "You on your back with your knees hooked around my forearms. I want to see you, I want to feel you. If I get to be so lucky as to get you into to bed I'm not taking a chance of not having that."

Sloan studied him and smiled slowly, taking a sip of her beer, letting out a breath. "That's a really good answer. I don't know that I can top that."

Don smirked in his win. He didn't render her speechless much. "I read somewhere that the average duration of sex for most couples is around ten minutes." He tilted his head to the left. "How long do you think we last?"

Another sip of her beer, making sure to give him a very clear once over. Sloan started at his feet and worked up his legs, inch by inch; past his lap with a quirk of her eyebrow and over his chest; up to his eyes and she smiled. "You and I? 30. At least."

"Good answer." Don prided himself on making sure the woman he was with had a good time. He might be a prick in life but between the sheets he made sure that he was giving. What fun was sex if your partner didn't have any fun?

"What's the longest you've ever gone for in one go?" Sloan knew he'd be honest. Why lie if he knew she could read him down to how much he liked his breakfast that day just by how he dressed?

"I got high once and went for two hours." Don couldn't get himself off. He didn't know if it was the drugs or the woman but he just thrusted and thrusted for the two hours until he finally came down and ended up having his orgasm.

Sloan kept quiet, though she absolutely blew him out of the water; back of the Varsity bus during senior trip. Four hours, all the positions, with the other kids and faculty not stone's throw down a hill at the beach with the campfire. God bless the track team.

"What's the most recent awkward moment you experienced that I don't know about?" Don took his turn.

"Most recent awkward moment. Mmm- Oh! I got walked in on at the Victoria's Secret changing room, mid change. I was wearing a corset with no cups."

Don tilted his head. His eyes glazing over. He had never been so intensely jealously of a person he never met but he was at that moment. Why did they get to see Sloan tits out? "That person just won a spot on my shit list."

Both eyebrows raised. "Wow... That's a new look. Is there a name for that?" Sloan pointed around his face. "Would it make you better to know that you get to cuddle with me in, oh, about twenty minutes?"

Don nodded, a goofy grin on his face. "It's called horny Don Keefer. It's something I like to pull out around my girlfriend when I'm thinking of her topless." He took her hand again, handing over his credit card to the waitress. "And that doesn't count as your question. Though it is your turn."

She moved closer to him, her voice soft. "In ten years, where do you want to be?" For some it was a question that was easy. Where the heart is involved, though, nothing is easy.

The question was not one that Don was expecting. He had to think about it for a moment. He could have said that he wanted to be Charlie, head of a whole news division. Or maybe Mac and be the best EP at the most popular hour. He could have said a lot of things. But he decided to go with the one that was the most true. "In ten years, I want to be with you."

At that moment, the waitress returned, breaking the moment. Sloan gave the woman a smile before looking back at Don. Her eyes searched his and found nothing but truth. "I wouldn't mind that. Who knows." She said, voice soft. "Maybe we will be."

"Maybe." Don nodded, standing up to put his jacket back on. "Maybe you'll be at 8 pm and Will will be Charlie and Mac will be VP of prime time and I'll be Mac. Maybe, just maybe."

Sloan walked with him to the door. "Maybe is a good word, I think. It's hopeful." The air had gotten colder and she rubbed her hands together. "Now the big question. Do you want to come up and make out on my couch? I'll even let you cop a feel."

Don wrapped her up in his arms so she could soak in his warmth. "If I go up to your place can I spend the night?" Don asked, his eyes on hers. "I'll sleep on the couch if you want. But it's 4 am and I have to be at my desk by 12 pm to try to get the show ready for tonight."

His eyes were gentle. Sloan whispered to him. "Yeah. But sleep with me in the bed. You'll be warmer; and I can hold you."

Don nodded before bending slightly and kissing her forehead. "You wanna be my little spoon?" He asked, walking with her toward her apartment. "Because I am a world class big spoon."

Both arms were around him, beneath his jacket. Both to keep warm and be close. "I'd love to be your teaspoon." Sloan blushed. She would get to be with him, holding him and listening to him breath. Snore. This was great.


End file.
